penalty points:calibration of gardai speed cameras

Any opinions on the calibration of gardi speed cameras, do thy have to produce a calibration certificate if requested?

Are there any regulations governing the proper storage of speed cameras as would be the case with any measuring equipment in a controlled enviroment?

Moved from Legal & Financial issues which is for Probate/Small Claims Court etc.

I don't know what the story is in this case, but from my experience in my job any measuring device which records something as required by law or other standard e.g. ISO has to be properly calibrated, with the folowing requirements.

1. Must be calibrated within last 12 months by a properly licenced independant company
2. A label must be placed on device stating when last calibrated, when due for next calibration etc
3. A proper certification must be issued stating the measurements found against the standard, the serial number of the device etc.
4. The calibration certificate for the machine that was used to calibrate the device should be have been checked and a copy held on file

If points 1 & 3 above cannot be satisfactorily shown, then the device cannot be proven as calibrated. As for 2 & 4, these are not necessarily required by law but is required by many standards e.g. ISO

Though, I doubt a Garda would have all the above paperwork in his/her car. If I was in the situation, I would take the serial number of the speed camera and ask for a copy of the calibration certificate if he didn't have it. Though, having said that I would only challenge it if I thought I was being unfairly treated. If I knew I was well over the speed limit, I wouldn't complain

Don't know if this was urban myth but I remember a service engineer from a company that calibrated some equipment for us telling a story he'd heard where someone in court for speeding questioning if the camera was calibrated. Lo and behold the Gardai produced the calibration cert.

However, the speedometer in your car isn't calibrated but I don't think you'd get away with that.

losttheplot said:

However, the speedometer in your car isn't calibrated but I don't think you'd get away with that.

Click to expand...

I bought a Sat Nav recently. I notice that while using it, the speedometer reading in my car is always slighly higher than the speed reading on the Sat Nav. For example, yesterday while driving on the M1, my speed on the speedometer was 119 km/hr. However the Sat Nav declared that my speed was 115km/hr.

probably the delay in signal from car to sat. to car . maybe it displays your speed 10 secs ago .

Dilly Ducked said:

probably the delay in signal from car to sat. to car . maybe it displays your speed 10 secs ago .

Click to expand...

Yes it could be. However I tried as best as possible to drive at a constant speed. The M1 was clear at the time and i had a very straight stretch

Maybe car manufacturers set the speedometers to make you think your going faster. I'm sure some people would take legal action against them if they were done for speeding when the speedometer told them they were below the speed limit.

gebbel said:

I bought a Sat Nav recently. I notice that while using it, the speedometer reading in my car is always slighly higher than the speed reading on the Sat Nav. For example, yesterday while driving on the M1, my speed on the speedometer was 119 km/hr. However the Sat Nav declared that my speed was 115km/hr.

Click to expand...

Speedometers nearly always have a higher reading than the actual speed, eg. 120kmph indicated will probably be nearer 115kmph. Its just the way they make them. Gives the driver the impression they own a faster car than they actually do though I'm sure thats not the reason!

I dont believe the Gardai have to produce any evidence. If you get caught speeding and they hold the evidence, ie. the photo, thats pretty much it. They don't have to account for the accuracy of what they use. You could wait til court but to be honest, what judge will give time to listen to that but you could always take the gamble. Higher speedthan actually you think you are doing so that really if you think you are doing 130 kph it may only be 128 kph - think its about 2 kph of a variance.

Higher speedo reading is done on purpose by car manufacturers. Its a safety issue. As speedos are never 100% accurate - there a margin of error in the reading of a few percent - it is better to calibrate them to give a slightly higher reading than reality. It ensures that if the pointer is pointing at the speed limit, you are 100% certain not to be breaking the speed limit.

Also guards against the manufacturers being brought to court by motorists done for speeding who claim that the pointer on the speedo said they were not over the speed limit.

Just to add to the reason car speedos give a higher reading - according to last Sundays Sunday Times In Gear section they are purposely set higher to accomodate the reducing circumference of a wheel owing to tyre wear and that a new tyre will always read higher on the speedo and also because of the possibility of drivers claiming against the manufacturer.

oth, with a Sat Nav, you know you can know go quicker than your speedo says............and smile at the camera while you're doing it, knowing you're still actually inside the actual limit